Gas filter



June 27, 1950 F. O. HESS GAS FILTER Filed Feb. 23,` 1946 WIM a /IM BZW Patented June 27, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GAS FILTER f Frederic 01 Hess, Philadelphia, Pa.; assignor Vto i Selas Corporation of America, Philadelphia,

Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 23, 1946, Serial No. 649,6!16Y 10 Claims. l

This invention relates to filters, and is especially' concerned with removing entrained liquid and foreign matter or foreign matter alone from a gaseous uid.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improvement for effecting phase-separation of entrained liquid from a gaseous Huid with the aid of a porous member from a face of which foreign matter can be effectively removedv by Washing the face with liquid of the kind being separated or another liquid immisciblewith the gaseous fluid.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improvement for removing from a gaseous iiuid foreign matterv entrained therein with the aid oi a porous member which is repellent to and not wettable by a liquid utilized to wash a face of the member first contactedby the gaseous huid to prevent clogging of the member by the foreign matter tending to lodge thereon.

The above andV other objects and advantages of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, and in which thev single gure more orv lessv diagrammatically illustrates a section of a gas line in which the invention is embodied.

Referring to the drawing, liquid accompanying and entrained in a gaseous: fluid isremoved therefrom in accordance with the invention by causing the gaseous' fluid to flow through a conduit I which may be formed with an enlarged portion II having a porous member I2 therein. The gas flows through the conduit I0 in the direction indicated by thel arrows and in the casing orenlarged portion I I contacts the vporous member I2'.- The member I2 is permeable to the gas and impervious to a liquid, such as Water, for example, yvvhiclris immiscible with the gas and accompanies thelatter.` The 'gaseous iluid from which the accompanying liquid isistripped passes: through the porousmember |21 andiilows from the enlarged AVportion II. of the conduitl IU to a place of use.

The porous member-4 I2 also serves as a filter which effectively removes foreign matter ac'- companyifng the gas. Such foreign matter tends to lodge on the face of the' porousumernber I2 and `clog the latter, thereby reducing the effective cross sectional area of the porousmember I2 through which thefgaseous nuid can freely pas-s.

In order to preventforeign matter from` lodg- Y 2. face thereofv rst contacted by the gasis washed by a suitable liquid at thesame time that removal of entrained liquid is being effected from the gas. This may be accomplished by providing a bank ofv spray nozzles `I4 arranged to spray liquid over the. entire face of' the porous member first contacted by the gas. While only a single vertical row of .nozzles I4 is shown in the drawing, it isto be'understood that a number of rows. ofnozzles I4 may be disposed alongside one another to produce effective spraying and washing of all surface portions of the porous memberIZ.

A system maybe provided for recirculating the liquid supplied to the nozzles I4,for washing.

the face of porous member I2 at which foreign matter tends to lodge. As shown inthe drawing, such a systemmayinclude a sump I5 into which liquid passes through a conduit I6 from the casing II. The conduit I6 terminates in the lower part of the sump I5 so that foreign matter will. be carried into thev bottom part thereof, a thre'adedly connected plug I'I being provided which may be removed 'when desired to drain foreign matter settlingand accumulating in the bottom'of the sump.

From the upper part ofthe sump I5 liquid passes through a connection I8 into a vessel I9. Make-up liquid is supplied to the vessel I9 through a conduit 29 having a manually operable valve2l outside the vessel and another valve 22 within the vessel which is connected by mechanism 23 to a float 24 and arranged to open only when the float falls below a predetermined liquid level in vessel I 9.

A conduit 25 extends fromthe vessel I9 into the upper part of casing II, whereby the pressure in vessel I9 is equalized with the pressure in the casing II`.l A pump 2li-'is connected by a conduit `21 to the bottom of the vessel I9 for 1 raising liquid therefrom through a vertical riser formed of glass fibers andthe like.

ing on land clogging theporous member f2, the? 28 which is connected at its upper-end to' a manifold 29 to lwhich the -nozzles I4 -are fixed. A drain conduit 30 having a, valve 3| therein is connected to the bottomof the vessel I9 to facilitate cleaning and washing of that vessel when this becomes necessary.

The porous member I2 may be formed of ceramic material or' 'of flexible fabric, such as, for example, canvas, cotton or linen duck, cloth Although the porous member I2 is diagrammatically illustrated as' being permanently mounted within the casing or enlarged'portion lII of the conduit l0, it should be'understood that in practicing the invention the member I2 may be mounted on a suitable frame and removably positioned in the casing II, a suitable opening or slot and cooperating panel being provided in a side thereof to facilitate removal and insertion of the member I2. Also, a number of filter elements may be disposed within the casing II in place of a single porous member I2 as illustrated, whereby a portion of the gas stream passes through each of the elements. In any event, the filter structure is effectively sealed in while still permitting the gas to pass therethrough. The ceramic material or any one of the above-mentioned flexible fabrics forming the porous member I2 may be made hydrophobic and repellent to water bytreating the material or fabric with a water repellent composition, such i as, for example, metallic soaps, plasticized polyvinyl chloride, syntheticresins, silicones, or a composition comprising an organo-silicon halide, as disclosed in Patnode Patent No. 2,306,222. When heat curing silicones are employedl to treat materials to render them hydrophobic, the surfaces produced ,are hard and insoluble in hydrocarbon liquids. l l

Let us suppose that a hydrophobic porous member I2 is embodied in a. gaseous fuel conduit having water entrained therein and containing foreign matter, such dust, dirt and carbon and ash particles, for example.4 The gaseous fuel flowing under pressure through the conduit I0 enters the casing or enlarged portion II thereof, and, since the porous member I2 v,is permeable to any gas, gaseous fuel will .freely pass therethrough to the place of use.v Water accompanying the gaseous fuel :and entering the casing II will contact a face of the porous member I2; but, since that member is rendered water repellent, the member I2 will not be wetted. by the water and water is prevented by its'surface tension from passing into the pores thereof. In other words, the water is prevented from passing into thepores or passages of the member I2 to displace the gaseous fluid therein so long as lthe pressure differential across .the member I2 does not overcome the surface tension ofthe liquid at the face of the member kflrst contacted by the gaseous fluid.

Hence, so -long as zthe pressure differential across the wall formed bythe member I2 does not exceedz a Apredetermined maximum value, which may be referred ,to as the rupture pressure, the interfacebetween-the gaseous fuel in the pores of the member I2 and the water con-I tacting the left-hand face thereof will not be ruptured and the gaseous fuel in the pores will not be displaced by water. The rupture pressure is dependent upon several factors including the surface tension ofthe liquid and the maximum pore size of the porous member. The rupture pressure increases for liquids having higher surface tension` value. :andis inversely proportional to pore size and decreases with in- 4 crease in the maximum pore size of the porous member.

Liquid to be separated and entrained in the gaseous fluid may be in the form of a fine mist or tiny droplets. If provision were not made for washing the porous member I2, as described above, such fine mist and tiny droplets at the left-hand face of the member I2 would coalesce to form larger and heavier drops which eventually fall by gravity to the bottom of the enlarged portion I I of the conduit ID. However, when no provision is made for washing the member I2, foreign matter in the gaseous fluid tends to lodge on and clog that member, as pointed out above. This is especially true when the entrained liquid is separated from a gaseous fuel, such as coke oven gas or blast furnace gas, for example, which contains a relatively high amount of foreign matter including dust, dirt, and carbon and ash particles and the like.

By spraying and washing the member I2 with a liquid which is immiscible with the gaseous fluid and to which the member I2 Vis repellent, effective and efficient cleaning of the gaseous fluid is accomplished at the same time that entrained liquid is separated and removed from the gaseousy fluid. When the porous member is rendered hydrophobic and repellent to water and aqueous solutions, for example, entrained water can be effectively removed from a gaseous fluid, such as gaseous fuel, and the porous member I2 can be sprayed with water to wash and clean the face or surface thereof rst contacted by the gaseous fluid. In such case fine mist and tiny droplets of water entrained in the gaseous fluid and the spray water discharged from the nozzles I4 lcoalesce and unite and flow by gravity on the wetted face or surface of the member I2 to the bottom of casing II.l When the porous member I2 is hydrophobic in character and repellent to water, neither the water entrained in theV gaseous fluid nor the spray water discharged from the nozzles III can pass through the pores of that member and displace the gaseous fluid filling the pores so long as the pressure differential across the member I2 does not exceed the rupture pressure referred to above. y

Sincethe porous member I2v may affect the gas pressure available at a-place yof use, it is desirable to employ a member having pores vor passages of relatively large size so that the pressure differential across that member will bel as smallas possible. In practicing the invention it has been found that .a member I2 having pores of about microns in diameter is quite satisfactory for use in gaseous fuel and compressed air lines in which removal of entrained water is desired. In supply4 conduits in which the gaseous fluid is at a pressure ranging'from 25 to 100 pounds per square inch, the maximum pressure differential across a hydrophobic porous member of ceramic material, having pores of about 100 microns in diameter, is in the neighborhood of 10 to 16 inches of water column; and this has been found to beinsuflicient to cause the gaseous fluid filling the pores to be displaced by the liquid at the surface of the member ilrst contactedfby the gaseous fluid.

When the delivery pressure of the gaseous fuel is at a lower value, such as five pounds per square inch, for example, which is :a delivery pressure often used in practice, the maximum pore size permissible in the porous member may be increased since the pressure differential produced across the porous member at such lower aucun delivery pressure will .befsmaller; Inmany :situations the pressure drop of the .gaseous fluid across the member l2 is of no consequence be- .cause it is necessary Yto employ pressurefreducing devices iniexisting supplylines to reduce thefgas lpressurexibefore flowing to a :place of.. use. c In any event, it is desirable in -most instances to lemploy aeporous member |2`having the pores or passages therein as large as possible so that an optimum rate of flow of the gaseous fluid is effected Vthrough `the `member I2,:such flow being proportional to the square of thev size of the openings.

When the invention is practiced tofeffect removal of liquid from a gaseous fluid,- onlyV phase i `agaseou's fluid liquid-which is Ventrained therein.

In addi-tion, foreign matter is effectively removed from-'the g-aseousfluid at the same time Vthat phase separation of the entrained liquid from the gaseous "fluid-*isaccomplished, as explained above.

In many industrial applications the problem of removing liquid entrained in a. gaseous fluid is not present or such removal may not be necessary, but the problem of continuously removing foreign matter from a lgaseous fluid is present. In such cases it has been the practice heretofore to provide a plurality of filtering units connected in parallel whereby the filtering units can be employed alternately to permit cleaning or replacement of the filtering medium in one of the units after it has become clogged with foreign matter.

The invention may be practiced effectively where only removal of foreign matter from a gaseous fluid is desired. In such case only a single filtering unit is required and the filtering medium therein may be employed for long periods of time without cleaning or replacement, because foreign matter tending to lodge on the filtering medium may be removed therefrom continuously by a washinlg liquid. The filtering medium or porous member is repellent to the washing liquid so that the latter cannot wet the medium and will not pass therethrough so long as the pressure differential across the wall of the ltering medium does not exceed the rupture pressure, as explained above.

Although a single embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it 'will be apparent that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as pointed out in the lfollowing claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of simultaneously removing from a gaseous fluid accompanying foreign matter and entrained liquid immiscible with the fluid, which includes causing the gaseous fluid to pass through a porous wall member which is permeable to such fluid and impervious to the liquid to be removed therefrom, and, while the gaseous fluid is passing through the member, washing the face thereof rst Icontacted by the gaseous fluid by a liquid immiscible with the gaseous fluid and to "which the-.member is impervious .so .as to carry off foreign matter tending to -lodge on and clog the member.

2. In the art of effecting phase separation of aliquid andra gaseous fluid immiscible therewith, the-improvementwhich comprises passing the agaseous fluid .through av porous member which isfpermeableto such fluidffand impervious to the liquid to be separated therefrom, washing the v'face ofthe member first contacted by the gaseous fluid by av liquid immiscible therewith and to which the member is impervious so as to carry off" foreign matteraccompanying the gaseous =fluidand tending'to lodge on and clog the member, and causing the gaseous fluid to pass through'the member by producing a pressure differential across theV latter which is ineffec- 4tive'to'cause gaseousfluid filling the pores of the member to be displaced by liquid at the face fth'ereof firstcontractedby'the gaseous fluid.

3;*In the Aart ofseparating a gaseous fluid and water in liquid phasel which is entrained in such fluid fand immiscible therewith, which comprises causing' the-*gaseous fluid to pass through a fliydrophobic porous member lwhich is permeable 4to Asuch-fluid and impervious to the entrained water, and washing the face of the member first contacted by the gaseous fluid by water so as to carry'off' foreign matter accompanying the fgaseousfluid and tending to lodge on and clog I.the wall member.

4. In the `art of removing from a gaseous fluid foreign matterentrai-ned therein, the improvement which comprises causing the gaseous fluid to pass through a porous member and washing the face of the member first contacted by the gaseous fluid by a liquid to which the porous member is repellent so as to [carry off the foreign matter tending to lodge on and clog the member.

5. In the art of removing from a, gaseous fluid foreign matter entrained therein, the improvement which comprises causing the gaseous fluid to pass through a porous member, washing the face of the member first contacted by the gaseous fluid by a liquid to which the porous member is repellent so as to carry off the foreign matter tending to lodge on and clog the member, and causing the gaseous fluid to pass through the member lby producing a pressure differential across the latter which is ineffective to cause gaseous fluid filling the .pores of the member to be displaced by the liquid.

6. Apparatus for separating from a gaseous fluid liquid entrained in such fluid and immiscible therewith and foreign matter accompanying the fluid, such apparatus including a casing having an inlet and an outlet, means interposed between the inlet and outlet including a porous member permeable to the gaseous fluid and impervious to the entrained liquid, and means to cause liquid, which is immiscible with the gaseous fluid and to which said member is pervous, to be directed onto the face thereof first contacted by the gaseous fluid to carry off foreign matter tending to lodge on and clog said member.

7. Apparatus for separating from a gaseous fluid accompanying foreign matter and water entrained therein, such apparatus including a casing having an inlet and an outlet, means interposed between the inlet and outlet including a hydrophobic porous member, and means to cause water to be directed onto the face of said member first contacted by the gaseous fluid to carry ofi` foreign matter tendingI tolodge onand clog said-member. L

8. Apparatus for separating from a-.gaseous fluid liquid entrained in such fluid and immiscible therewith and foreign matter accompanying the fluid, such apparatus including a casing having an inlet and an outlet, means interposed between the inlet and outlet including a porous member permeable to the gaseous iiuid and impervious to the entrained liquid, spray means for directing liquid, which is immiscible with the gaseous fluid and to which said member is impervious, against the face thereof rstcontacted by the gaseous uid to wash said member and carry off foreign matter tending to lodge thereon, and structure for recirculating liquid from the bottom of the casing to the spray means including means to facilitate removal of foreign matter carried 4by the liquid. 1- Y y 9. Apparatus for separating from a gaseous uid accompanying the foreign matter and water entrained therein, such apparatus including a casing having an inlet and an outlet, means including a hydrophobic porous member interposed between the inlet and outlet, means for applying Water against the face of said memberA rst contacted by the gaseous fluid to carry oif foreign matter tending to lodge on and clog said member, means for returning Water from the bottom of said easing to said applying meansincluding a vessel into which Water flows from said casing, a pressure equalizing connection between said vessel and said casing, and means including a lconduit and valve means therein yoperable responsive to the iiuid level in saidl vessel for intr'oducing make-up water 'into the latter.

'10. Apparatus for removing from a gaseous fluid foreign matter entrained therein, such apparatus including a casing having an inlet and an outlet, means interposed between the inlet and outlet including a porous member permeable to the gaseous fluid, spray means for directing liquid against the face of the member rst contacted by the gaseous fluid to wash the member and carry off foreign matter tending to lodge thereon, said member being repellent to and not wettable by the liquid, and structure for recirculating liquid from the bottom of the casing to the spray means including means to facilitate removal of foreign matter .carried by the liquid.

FREDERIC O. HESS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent: L

y UNITED'STATES PATENTS Number Norton oct. 9, 1945 

